Local Councils told to get blogging

Local councils have been told to get blogging. The British government funded local e-Democracy National e-Government Project is encouraging local councils to share more of their thoughts with the voters through weblogs. Blogging, which is experiencing a boom time as more and more people use these online soapboxes for anything from simple diaries of their activities to campaigns to change the world. ...more

Apple unveils 2in thick iMac G5

Apple has unveiled the new iMac, mounted entirely in its display. The iMac G5 is, says Apple, the world's thinnest desktop compute, with a 17in or 20in LCD display, slot loading drive and G5 processor squeezed into a 2in thick casing. 'Just like the iPod redefined portable digital music players, the new iMac G5 redefines what users expect from a consumer desktop,' said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. ...more

Palm launches new handhelds

With Handspring only announcing its new Visor Edge range a fortnight ago, Palm has followed suit with a successor to the Palm Vx. There are two new models in the M500 series; the M500 itself - featuring a monochrome screen, an ultra-slim design, Internet access via a mobile phone and an expansion slot for Secure Digital cards - and the M505, which has a similar spec to the M500 but with a 16-bit colour screen. Both devices are incredibly light with the M500 weighing only 99 grams (15 per cent light than the Palm Vx) and the M505 weighing 128 grams (30 per cent lighter that the Palm IIIc). ...more

GPL v3 drives a wedge between Free Software and Open Source

A potential split in the Open Source movement has opened up. Linus Torvalds, the man behind the Linux operating system that is one of the largest users of the GPL says he will not be migrating the Linux kernel to GPL version 3. The GNU General Public License is the bedrock on which the Free and open-source (FOSS) movement operates. ...more

Fuel Shortage A Big Hit For BT

BT's video conferencing business was reported to be booming. Over the last week as fuel shortages took hold companies turned to video conferencing in a bid to keep the wheels of commerce turning. The number of video conference calls handled by BT has almost double from a daily average of 2,300 to 4,500. ...more